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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

Hi all, I joined this forum to find out the piano we bought. We only had budget for a second hand piano, and initially were after a Yamaha U3h, then we saw this piano that plays well and bought it instead, however, we cannot seem to find any reference to it on Internet, so I am hoping someone here will know about it's origin. It's a Friedrich. model F101, 128cms tall and uses Renner hammers, piano shop owner said it's made in Germany, but I'd like to confirm that before it's delivered.

It's imported from Japan as a second hand piano, it's the best guess from the store that it's made in Germany, and over 10 years old, the closest reference I can find is Ehrbar Friedrich, logo and form of writing is similar, but all references to Ehrbar Friedrich seem to be antique pianos, and the one we are buying is definitely not antique. Sorry I don't have a photo and hello from Melbourne.

If this website is correct, it's probably Japanese made - with parts from ?? It has been quite common for Asian manufacturers to use Germanic sounding names. Most weren't exported, but for local market.

Yamaha and Kawai are indeed the "safe" choice, but not necessarily the best. You could get a technician to look at it for you (for a fee). If it's the piano you like best, it may well be the right piano for you. It's no point in buying a piano you don't like playing.

Bear in mind, that your piano tastes develop. Many here on PianoWorld have had a sequence of pianos, as abilities improve, and as funds become available etc.

I don't play piano, I'm buying for the children, and upgrading from a student model Alex Steinbach when the older one is getting better and the younger one is starting as well. We initially wanted Yamaha or Kawai because we didn't have much knowledge ourselves, and they are safe to buy, and the children can't tell me much about that as well, like which one feels better for them any way. The shop does give a 15 year warranty on the piano, but on the other thread, they talked about those smaller Japanese brands and how the pianos were restored in China before shipping to other counties which scared us a bit. It might be a good piano, but as both hubby and me can't tell which one is better and our decision base purely on other people's recommendations, it's a bit too risky to buy an obsolete brand... It's similar price to the second hand U3H Yamahas over there, although that one might be a bit old as well...

With Yamaha, you can search google for Yamaha Piano Serial Number to confirm an age against a serial number.

My recommendation and that of PianoWorld is always to have a good independent technician inspect the piano.

I purchased a Yamaha UX new in 1979 - was a great piano, I did a diploma on it, played it most days for 30 years, 3 children learned on it, I accompanied their other instruments on it. After 30 years, I replaced it - it was showing quite a degree of wear - and I was ready for my "dream piano" when I retired. The UX went to my daughter, who plays, and her children are now learning on it.

The UX was the same size, but slighly different design as U3, sold in parallel with U3H. A U3H was probably from the 1970s or early 1980s. By the time they got to the "H", the U3 series was well regarded as a strong and well developed piano. When I taught, I would steer students or parents toward a U1 or U3 Yamaha.

Are you located in Sydney by any chance? My old teacher's studio had a Friedrich upright in one of the room, glossy brown colour. Wondering if that was the same piano. I was curious about the brand when I first saw it but couldn't find any info on it on the web.

I think one of my friend bought a UX3 for the children (the son asked for a piano) and they were happy with it so far... Like my family, the children wanted to play, but the parents have limited knowledge in the area and rely on other people's recommendations...

to albynism:I'm in Melbourne. The shop owner was just guessing where this piano was made, I rang them up last night (mobile) as the piano was supposed to be delivered on Monday and if we want to swap, we have to swap today at least sort of, and they said they really didn't have any information about this piano and couldn't find it on the internet. that piano had matte mahogany finish, not glossy.

Okay then it's probably not the same piano. I was going to say the piano wasn't that good and had "mushy" touch and other problems but it could just be that specific piano, I remember the Friedrich lettering on the fallboard was quite ornate. My best bet is to get a tech to look at it.

We went back to the shop today, end up getting a Yamaha U30BL instead, it's later model than U3As they recommended, the guys over there say sound is better with the U30BL, but the feel is better with one of the U3A.However, as I can't play myself, neither can my husband, we went with the younger piano (serial number starts with 458 something...) $5K delivered with new stool and a free tuning within 6 months of delivery and 15 year warrenty.